Bite me
by Jamie7
Summary: *YOU pick the ending!!* Mulder and Scully embark on an investigation in central Florida in search of Gnomes (PLEASE, PLEASE R&R!)
1. Default Chapter

Bite me  
  
Writer's note: Hey guys this is just the beginning; I'm new at this so tell me what you think. =)  
  
CH.1  
  
"GNOMES INVADE QUIET SUBURB SANFORD, FL"  
  
Before giving her usual response of a sigh, she scrolled down to the bottom of the page:  
  
"RUDOLF'S STORY, THE UTAH BABY BORN WITH ANTLERS"  
  
"Mulder, you wake me up on a Saturday morning to investigate 'David and the Gnomes'  
  
with the little red dunce hats in central Florida?" Scully said resentfully pointing at the  
  
picture on the cover of the National Enquirer.  
  
"I didn't know you watched cartoons Scully!" Mulder replied excitedly  
  
Scully rolled her eyes. "My nephew, the same one who watches Babe 15 times a day."  
  
She sipped her hot coffee and gestured to make Mulder a cup.  
  
"No thanks." He handed her a file. "Seven kids have been attacked, it's legitimate."  
  
He pointed at a glossy photo of a little boys arm covered in little bite marks and deep stab  
  
wounds. " I don't know if they wear 'little red dunce hats', but I'm sure David is the ring  
  
leader." He smiled.  
  
Scully gave Mulder her I don't believe you look, but even more I don't believe I am  
  
going to go with you look.  
  
"C'mon Scully, we can go see Mickey and Pluto while we're there." He laughed playfully. 


	2. CH.2***All fired up***

CH.2 ***fuel to the fire***  
  
"Yup, I'm sure glad you folks came out, I've never seen nothing like this before, it's just the damnest thing." The Sheriff wore his badge proudly, a bronze star he obviously polished often; his chest was puffed out and his thick mustache that hung over his lip was damp from chewing on it.  
  
"Sheriff, all the attacks happened in the same neighborhood?" Scully asked annoyed.  
  
"Yup, all within a one mile radius. One of the boys, Tucker Williams, described them lil' culprits to our sketch artist. We got a composite of an elf lookin' thing." He moved his head from side to side as if it were the greatest tragedy to ever afflict his town.  
  
"But there are no other witnesses?" Scully pushed on.  
  
"Nope. Nobody else seen 'em."  
  
Scully turned to Mulder dibelievingly. "So Sheriff, you are basing your investigation on the imagination of a little boy?"  
  
"Haven't you done seen them photos? Something attacked them kids." He handed her a photo similar to the one Mulder had shown her earlier.  
  
Scully examined the photo closely, half-listening as Mulder and the Sheriff conversed. She held up the photo in front of Mulder. "Do you see those red lines going up his arm? It looks like tetanus." Mulder took the picture from her hands. "Are you sure these aren't just cat attacks? That could explain the puncture, or 'stab' wounds." Scully voice rang with irritation as her eyes examined the Sheriff's face. "Haven't these kids been looked at?" She demanded.  
  
"Course they have! That ain't tetanus, those are scratch marks." The Sheriff raised his voice defensively.  
  
"I don't know about Garfield making the attacks Scully, look how tiny these wounds and bite marks are. It would have to be some sort of miniature mutated alien cat." Mulder remarked. It got him off to see Scully get so fired up.  
  
"Oh, but David and his little gnome friends are more plausible." She sneered as she walked out of the police department. Mulder chuckled and the Sheriff stood there, his face stupid with confusion 


	3. CH.3***Be serious***

CH.3***Be serious***  
  
"What's the matta' Scully? The country folk pissin' ya off?" Mulder joked as he sat down beside her on a bench. Scully's frustration was apparent in the way she rolled her eyes at Mulder.  
  
"This is ridiculous Mulder, I don't know which pisses me off more; the incompetence of that man or that I'm out here in the middle of the swamp chasing trolls-  
  
"GNOMES." Mulder corrected.  
  
"WHATEVER. I could be sleeping right now or doing other weekend stuff, she sighed deeply, But no. I'm out here on a case that isn't even a case."  
  
"It is a case. You left before the Sheriff could finish. A child is dead, and there are six others wounded. Whether it be Garfield or David, there is someone or something out there attacking children that we need to seek and bring to justice."  
  
"Died from what?" Scully's tone serious and concerned.  
  
"Numerous stab, or 'puncture' wounds to the jugular. That isn't typical cat behavior." He squinted from the sun, and his partner held her hand to forehead to cast out the sun. Mulder was right, and she knew it. A child dead and six others wounded definitely warranted an avenue of investigation.  
  
"I'll examine the body first thing tomorrow. I want the medical reports on the other victims and I want to examine them myself." She had finally reverted back to her usual calm and serious self.  
  
"Let's go start making some call." Mulder replied perkily as the two walked side-by-side to their rental car. 


	4. CH.4***stinky lakes and contusions***

CH.4***Stinky lakes and contusions*** Sanford, Fl 10:45 a.m.the following morning  
  
"Mulder, it's me. I just examined Matthew Garrett's body, the initial cause of death is massive blood loss."  
  
"Initial cause?" Mulder asked as he juggled his cell phone and the steering wheel.  
  
"His throat was covered in small abrasions and contusions. Indication of strangling." Scully answered. " But the assailant was unable to inflict death through this method."  
  
"Well, I'm on my way to Tucker Williams' house right now."  
  
"There are cuts covering the boys' hands and there is some skin under two of his nails. I'm going have a sample sent to the crime lab to be analyzed."  
  
"Ok, you do that and I'll let you know what happens. I have a copy of the composite with me. I've gotten a hold of four of the other families, I want to sit down with each kid."  
  
"All right." Scully pulled the phone away from her ear and turned back to the body.  
  
Mulder pulled into a gravel driveway that led to a little white and hunter green brick house. He got out of his car and was overwhelmed by the overpowering odor of sulfur, He cringed at the smell and wiped his hands on his pants and ran one hand through his frizzy hair. He found his way to a cracked concrete walkway that led to the porch. Huge oak trees shaded the grassless yard, and squirrels leaped from the massive limbs. He knocked on the Williams' front door that had a bronze plaque nicely centered that read THE WILLIAMS LIVE HERE-fine food and spirits, besides slanted numbers announcing the address. He was greeted by a stocky man in a white under shirt, shorts and dirty bare feet with yellowed toenails.  
  
"Mr. Williams?" Mulder held out his hand all though he secretly was repulsed by the idea of touching the man. "I'm Fox Mulder, we spoke on the phone."  
  
"Yeh, c'mon in. How do ya like Flarida so far? The humidity getting' to ya?" The man joked as Mulder ran his hands through his hair.  
  
"It's nice to visit, I don't think I could stand the mosquitoes for very long though." Mulder replied as his eyes surveyed the living room.  
  
"Yeah, it gets purty muggy out here, especially with that lake bein' so close."  
  
"That's what that sulfur smell is." Mulder said triumphantly.  
  
"Yep, stinky huh?" Mulder nodded.  
  
"This here is my wife Angela." The man held out his stubby hairy arm to embrace a heavy set woman with rosy cheeks and scraggly blonde hair pulled back messily. Mulder shook her hand as she moved her eyes over him.  
  
"Ya didn' have to git all dressed up to see us." The woman chuckled.  
  
"This here is Agent Mulder with the FBI." The man informed his wife with stern respect his tone as he patted Mulder's shoulder.  
  
"Oh. Well nice to meet ya AGENT Mulder." Her eyes lit up enthusiastically. "The police 'ready done come out here. I don' know how much he remembas', but you go talk to him, She paused for a moment, could I get ya somepin to drink darlin'?"  
  
"No thank you." Mulder smiled.  
  
" 'Kay, his bedroom is that one on the left." 


	5. CH.5***The wrath of the flamingo***

CH.5***The wrath of the flamingo***  
  
  
  
Mulder, upon leaving the Williams' home, dialed up Scully.  
  
"Scully." She answered with the slightest hint of annoyance.  
  
"Hey Scully, it's me."  
  
"Oh hey. I got them to send off a sample of the skin I removed from under Matthew Garrett's nails. The results should hopefully be back in tomorrow, and if not by midday the following day. Mulder, these people are such idiots, the original pathologist was in the room while I did the examination, and had somehow overlooked the flesh under his nails. Anyways, how did it go?" she drew in a long breath.  
  
"Well, I think you may have been right about Tucker having an imagination."  
  
"So you have dismissed your theory of David being our suspect?"  
  
"No, but Tucker claimed he has also seen the ghosts of flight 401."  
  
"What?" She asked confounded.  
  
"In December 1972 an Eastern airlines Tristar jetliner, flight 401, crashed into a swamp here. One hundred and one people died including Bob Loft and Don Repo; the pilot and flight engineer. There have been 20 noted incidents thereafter where Loft and Repo have said to be seen."  
  
"Did the Williams' have any lawn gnomes in their yard?" She asked.  
  
"Actually they did, they had a flamingo and a windmill. Driving through the neighborhood, I noticed a lot of people had lawn ornaments. Lawn gnomes, so to speak, date back to ancient times when North American cavewomen placed boar heads at the entrance of their caves to welcome neighbors and cast out evil. Pilgrims placed wooden ducks around their homes for the same purpose. In 1952, a man named Ralph Gerbowski from Miami started his multi-million dollar empire by selling flamingos and whatnot."  
  
"Mulder, are you suggesting that lawn ornaments are attacking these kids. pink plastic flamingos?"  
  
"No." Mulder laughed. " I just thought it was a coincidence. No the dwarf- like gnomes you are most likely familiar with, are believed to live under the ground. I'm thinking that because this is a swampy area, especially with all the recent rain, maybe has forced them to retreat to higher land."  
  
Scully sighed and rolled her eyes in disbelief.  
  
"Don't you think that because we know this boy has a vivid imagination it is possible he has fabricated a story based on his lawn ornaments?" Scully proposed.  
  
"Anything is possible Scully.  
  
"How do you explain how a creature, that's what-- a couple inches tall, kill a child that's 4" ½?"  
  
"Gnomes are said to be 7xs stronger than man with a larger brain capacity. They also can live for 400 hundred years and have ESP. Anyways, you said that it appeared the kid had been strangled, but the assailant was unable to inflict death in this way."  
  
"Whatever Mulder." Her voice echoed annoyance and frustration.  
  
"Also, there are rumors that Elvis was murdered by a FBI Gnome assassin because he was really an alien."  
  
Scully made no response.  
  
"Well, I'm going to head over to Elizabeth Rumple's house now."  
  
"I'll meet you there."  
  
"Do you need me to pick you up or give you an address?"  
  
"No, the Sheriff said he'd give me a ride." Scully hung up and frowned. This is going to be *fun* she thought to herself. 


	6. CH.6***Will you be Ken?***

CH.6***Will you be Ken?***  
  
  
  
Mulder drove down the block to a similar house; the Rumples had a wooden swing hanging from their porch and two lawn gnomes at the entrance to their walkway. Mulder made his way to the front door and noticed a copy of the National Enquirer on a wooden table next to a pack of Morley lights. He rang the doorbell, which chimed to O' Susanna. Mulder laughed at this.  
  
A pretty petite woman with short wavy blonde hair and a sharp thin nose answered the door.  
  
"Hi, I'm agent Mulder with the FBI, are you Mrs. Rumple?" He asked as he flashed her his badge.  
  
"Ms. Rumple. I'm divorced." She informed him.  
  
He held out his hand and shook hers. He didn't mind touching her at all. She picked up a cigarette and lit it and motioned for Mulder to take one.  
  
"Oh, no thanks." He smiled.  
  
"It's nice to see a man in a suit and tie." She smiled seductively.  
  
Mulder shied at this and smiled stupidly.  
  
"Would it be possible for me to speak with Elizabeth?" He asked feeling a little awkward.  
  
"Sure, just go in and yell for her."  
  
Mulder raised his brow questioningly. The woman held up her hand in which she held her cigarette.  
  
"She has asthma." She responded.  
  
Mulder smiled and walked inside the house. The theme was obviously cows; the border of the family room was of two cows in a field and directly in front of the door was a mirror rimmed in cow print.  
  
"Elizabeth?" Mulder asked.  
  
"I'm in here!" A girls voice responded.  
  
"Uh, where's here?" He looked down the hall to the left.  
  
"In my room! Duh!" The girl yelled sarcastically.  
  
Mulder followed the voice into a Victorian inspired pale pink room where Elizabeth, who had long blonde curls and big blue eyes, sat on the floor, Barbies in hand. Mulder kneeled beside her.  
  
"Hi Elizabeth. My name is Fox." He said warmly.  
  
The girl broke into hysterical giggles. Mulder furrowed his brow.  
  
"Fox is a funny name." The girl announced.  
  
"Then you can call me Mulder." He offered.  
  
To this the girl laughed harder. Mulder sighed.  
  
"How old are you Elizabeth?"  
  
"Thix and a half." She said proudly through missing front teeth.  
  
"Can you tell me how you got those cuts on your arm?"  
  
"Doot-doo-doot-doo-doo." The girl sang as she had her Barbie jump onto Mulder's leg.  
  
Mulder held out the composite sketch before her.  
  
"Have you ever seen him before?" He asked.  
  
"Sure." She said as she went about having Barbie jump on Mulder's head.  
  
"Where? Can you tell me?" Mulder asked anxiously.  
  
"There's two of them in my front yard."  
  
Mulder closed his eyes.  
  
"Do you want to be Ken becauth you are a boy?" She giggled.  
  
Mulder shook his head, smiled and walked back out front.  
  
"Have a seat." Ms. Rumple smiled as she patted the empty space next to her on the swing.  
  
" Your daughter is something else." Mulder joked.  
  
"Yeah, she's a handful."  
  
The Sheriff and Scully pulled up in a white pickup. Scully got out and waved him off.  
  
"Who is that?" Ms. Rumple asked as Scully walked up the walkway.  
  
"That's my partner Dana Scully, she wants to take a look at Elizabeth, she's a doctor."  
  
Ms. Rumple frowned. Scully looked strangely at the two as they stood.  
  
"Ms. Rumple-" Mulder started.  
  
"Shania." Ms.Rumple interrupted.  
  
"This is my partner, Dana Scully."  
  
The woman did not extend her hand out to Scully, but looked her over judgingly, jealously. 


	7. CH.7 ***Pity party***

CH. 7 ***Pity party***  
  
"Why do you need to look at Elizabeth?" Shania asked snobbily.  
  
"Because I'm hoping that I might possibly be able to ascertain indication of our suspects motive, or anything that may help lead us to it." Scully replied.  
  
"Hey Scully!!!" Mulder yelled as he jumped up and ran to the side of the house, Scully trailing closely behind.  
  
"What is it?" She yelled in a heavy pant. Mulder stopped and analyzed the scene before him.  
  
"There!" He cried as he pointed at movement in a bush. He reached his arm into the bush, but pulled his arm out quickly and yelped. Sticking out of his arm was a nearly-microscopic dagger from which blood ran down his arm. He winced as he yanked it out, then he held it up for Scully to see.  
  
"What do you think about that?" Mulder asked.  
  
"It could just be a toy that a kid left behind." Scully rationalized.  
  
"You think they'd give something capable of doing that to a child?" Mulder asked pointing to the blood dripping from his arm.  
  
Scully shrugged. "Gnomes, Mulder." She remarked incredulously.  
  
Mulder chuckled to himself. "What's your theory?"  
  
"Aliens are on my maybe list. Government conspiracies, yes. But GNOMES Mulder?"  
  
"I'll tell you what. I'm going to catch one of them and hold it up by the back of its shirt as it tries to bite your nose as I dangle it in front of your face. How's that?"  
  
Scully mouthed 'whatever' and widened her eyes sarcastically.  
  
"Is today the official make fun of Mulder day?" He muttered under his breath to himself as he looked through the bushes unaware that Scully heard him.  
  
"SHANIA seems to like you." She smirked in return.  
  
"Yeah, and here she comes now." Mulder said teasingly.  
  
Shania ran right by Scully, not even acknowledging her existence, over to Mulder. "Oh you poor thing!!" she exclaimed as she held Mulder's arm up to her face to examine his cut. "You need to go to a hospital!"  
  
"He's fine, it's just a little cut." Scully guaranteed.  
  
Shania flashed her a harsh look and very cockily said " Well, I think he needs stitches."  
  
Mulder grinned largely.  
  
"Look, Ms. Rumple. I'm a medical doctor. All he needs is a band aid."  
  
"Agent Mulder, would you like me to drive you to a hospital?" Shania turned to him.  
  
Mulder glanced over her shoulder at Scully who gave him a death look. "Um, no. I think I'll be ok. I should just bandage it. Thank you though." He smiled.  
  
"Well, let me go wash that up for you." Shania grabbed his good arm and guided him back to the house, and Scully, who was right in their way, jumped to the side to let them pass. She held her hands up in front of her defensively.  
  
She watched them disappear into the house, and she walked to the end of the street, looking around, waiting for Shania's new hunny-bunny to come back out so they could leave.  
  
Just then, a piercing scream cut through the thick humid air. Scully drew her gun and ran over to the lake. 


	8. CH.8***The hole***

CH.8 ***The hole***  
  
Lying in the dirt next to her bike was nine-year-old Christina Drout. Her face was fear-stricken and her chest heaved as she panted in terror.  
  
"Are you OK?" Scully cried as she ran over to the frightened girl and helped her up.  
  
"Are you hurt?" She asked again.  
  
"No, I..I..there was a little elf chasing me!"  
  
"Where did it go?"  
  
The girl pointed over to her right by the lake. Scully walked over to the lake wall. There was about a seven-foot drop to the water. She looked around the surrounding area and spotted a mound with a hole in it in the dirt. She walked over to it and bent down.  
  
"SCULLY!?" Mulder cried in the distance.  
  
"Mulder! I'm over here!" She replied.  
  
"Christina!!!" A teenage girl yelled as she ran over with a teenage boy closely behind.  
  
"Oh my God! Are you ok?" She yelled as she hugged the girl.  
  
"Who are you?!! Did you do something to Christina?" The girl accused Scully.  
  
"Scully!" Mulder cried as he ran up to the scene.  
  
"YOU FREAKS! Are you trying to kidnap her?" The teenage girl demanded.  
  
"No! Calm down, we're with the FBI." Scully reassured.  
  
"What's going on? I heard a scream." Mulder asked confused.  
  
"I heard a scream too. That's why I came over here." Scully said trying to regain control of the situation.  
  
"Are you alright sweetheart?" Mulder bent down next to the little girl.  
  
"I AM FINE! FIND THE DAMN ELF!!" The girl screamed in frustration.  
  
"I don't believe this! Your mom isn't going to pay me now!" The teenage girl exclaimed as she held her head.  
  
"Would you calm down!" Scully ordered.  
  
"Hey babe, what the hell is going on?" The teenage boy with long greasy hair and a metallica shirt on asked stupidly.  
  
"Who is he?" The little girl asked angrily.  
  
"I'm Scott. I'm her boyfriend." The boy replied.  
  
"You better not tell your mom Christina! She'll never let me babysit you again! I need to get money to get my ticket for the warped tour!" The teenage girl said panicky.  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't be a baby-sitter. Instead of sucking face with him, you should've been watching this little girl. She could've been hurt." Scully argued.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey! Why don't you three go back to where you came from." Mulder chirped in trying to calm things down.  
  
The teenage girl rolled her eyes and took Scott's hand as they walked down the street following Christina on her bike.  
  
"The girl said she saw an elf." Scully explained. "She said it ran over here." She pointed down to the hole.  
  
"This must be where they come form." Mulder declared.  
  
~~~~~~~~DING~~DING~~~DING~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
OK! It's the moment you've been waiting for! YOU PICK THE ENDING! Either continue on to the next chapter (CH 9) for ***Garfield and David*** or go to CH 10 for ***A souvenir**** Read and review both if you'd like! Let me know which one you liked better! Did you love it, hate it? Any suggestions, comments? Think there should be a third option b/c they both stink? Let me know! 


	9. CH.9***Garfield and David***

CH.9 ***Garfield and David***  
  
Police lights lit up the evening sky and casted red and blue rays over the lake. The excavation team was hard at work digging where the hole was. Mulder and Scully stood wearily behind the police lines. Itching their arms like crazy from mosquito bites. The sheriff (with the polished badge) ducked under the yellow tape and approached them.  
  
"They found what 'peers to be a rat hole." He informed them.  
  
"Rats?" Mulder asked disappointed.  
  
"Yup, they found a network covered in rat droppins'."  
  
"Do you think they are responsible for these attacks?" Scully asked.  
  
"Dunno."  
  
"That doesn't make any sense! Why would rats live in the dirt and attack kids?" Mulder asked.  
  
The sheriff shrugged. "None of this really makes any sense to me." He replied honestly.  
  
"Rats don't live in dirt." Mulder stated.  
  
"These rats do. There's septic tanks around here. Maybe that figures into it somehow. Dunno what to tell ya or what to think." The sheriff shook his head.  
  
"It would account for the tiny bite marks." Scully pointed out.  
  
"HEY!" one of the excavation guys yelled.  
  
Mulder and Scully ran over to where the guy stood. There, deep in the moist soil was a rat and a half-eaten gnome.  
  
"What in the hell is that thing?" The man exclaimed.  
  
Mulder and Scully exchanged glances of disbelief.  
  
"Hey, over here!!" Another guy yelled. In his hole were the infamous little red dunce hats and Barbie doll sized clothing drenched in blood.  
  
A rat scurried by Mulder and Scully's feet. Scully, upon seeing it, let out a terrified and disgusted shriek as she grabbed Mulder's shoulders trying to get behind him.  
  
An orange tabby cat jumped out from a bush and snatched the rat in it's mouth and ran away.  
  
"Garfield caught the rat who ate David and his red dunce hat." Mulder sang as Scully looked up at him in disgust and frowned at his rhyme.  
  
~END~ But check out the other ending if you didn't like this one or you just wanna read it! 


	10. CH.10***A souvenir***

CH.10***A souvenir***  
  
Mulder examined the hole with his flashlight as Scully called the sheriff.  
  
"Hey sheriff?" Scully spoke into her cell.. "Yeah, we're over by lake Monroe. There's been another sighting of the, uh, the gnome." Scully sighed hesitantly.  
  
"Um, Christina- didn't get a last----  
  
Before Scully could finish, she screamed in excruciating pain and dropped her phone and fell to the dirt.  
  
"MULDER!" she yelled.  
  
Mulder raced over to her and attached to her leg was a gnome. Mulder pried it from her leg and bit down on to his hand. Mulder shrieked like a girl as he shook his hand furiously trying to free himself from the locked-jaw grip of the thing. Scully pulled out a can of mace from her pocket and sprayed it all over it. It released Mulder and fell to the floor and let out pained squeals as it scurried into the hole.  
  
Scully and Mulder panted heavily as they stained the dirt with the gushing blood falling from their wounds. The sheriff came pulling up with his lights and sirens blaring on his pick up. He yelled for his deputy to call an ambulance when he saw Scully's pant leg and Mulder's hand covered in blood.  
  
************************************************************* Scully limped out to the waiting room of the hospital where Mulder sat with his hand bandaged.  
  
"Twelve stitches." Scully said as she sat down next to him. "What's wrong?" She asked as she examined his disappointed expression.  
  
"Other than the hole in my hand and in your leg, they had a team go out and drop explosives down the hole." He frowned.  
  
Scully tilted her head to illustrate she didn't follow.  
  
"They found daggers and little body parts in pieces after the explosion."  
  
"Well, I guess that means we can go home then-" She said unsure of Mulder's frustration.  
  
"Yeah, but I wanted to dangle one in front of your face." He joked.  
  
"I had one take a decent chunk out of my leg Mulder." She rolled her eyes not seeing the humor.  
  
"I wanted to catch one so bad." He admitted.  
  
"Here's a souvenir for you then." She reached into her pocket and placed a red dunce hat into his palm and stood.  
  
"Let's go Mulder." She smiled.  
  
**************** END********************** :) 


End file.
